Photo by Tony Rastrelli
At Manchester there were less favorable course conditions than in most of the central and southern parts of the state. A drizzly day did not stop a pack of Warsaw boys from getting to the front early. Jackson Gackenheimer from Warsaw would establish himself as the race leader by the mile mark with a gap of about 5m over the chase pack. Jackson would continue to slightly grow his lead throughout the race as he would come to the finish for the individual championship with a time of 15:54.4. Finishing relatively close behind him was Columbia City teammates Marcus Ridge and Gavin Good with times of 16:02.0 and 16:23.2 respectively. Wesley Steininger from Rochester Community would be the top individual not advancing on a team with a time of 17:26.5.
Jackson would lead his team to victory with his Warsaw teammates placing 6 runners in the top 13 and their entire lineup in the top 18. The team scored 36 points which would be enough to win the school's 13th consecutive team sectional title. The team race for runner-up was relatively close with Wabash outlasting Columbia City with a score of 52-62. Culver Academies would place 4th to advance with Manchester outlasting Rochester Community for the final advancing spot.
Watch interviews from the Manchester sectional
Girls Race
Photo by Tony Rastrelli
The girls race also saw a Tiger out in the lead early with Josefina Rastrelli taking charge. Alice Friesen, a freshman from Huntington North was able to stay in the vicinity for the first couple of minutes before Rastrelli was able to slowly gap her on the muddy course. The Indiana University Bloomington commit would be able to lead wire-to-wire to win her 3 straight individual sectional championship in a time of 18:09.2. Alice was able to finish next in the runner-up position with a time of 18:48.1. Chesnee Miller from Tippecanoe Valley would be the top individual not advancing on a team with a time of 19:35.3.
The team race looked very similar up front with the Warsaw girls also winning their 13th consecutive team sectional title and winning by 24 points. The spread for 2nd through 5th advancing teams was relatively tight with these 4 teams finishing only 32 points apart. Huntington North would take the runner up spot with 73 points, Columbia City in third with 88 points, Manchester fourth with 93 points, and Plymouth fifth with 105 points.
Watch interviews from the Manchester sectional